Bulletin Board

[Kage]

Kage ran through unfamiliar territory, trying to commit to muscle memory how to use sword and shield. It was different; the weight of the armor he wore and the weight of the weapons he carried in his hands. These were not the goldsmith tools his father used nor were they like the staves that his mother tried so hard to make him adore. The heavy armor was not the soft weight of the robes he used to wear, but it was starting to feel strangely comforting.

 

"One day... One day I hope to be ready." He said out loud, casting his gaze around himself. He found a group of Sandworms starting to swarm around a lone figure and a yellow feathered beast, a chocobo! As Kage squinted his eyes, he could see that the figure turned out to be a female thaumaturge, trying to run away while trying to fend the sandworms of with some Fire.

 

Kage drew his sword and shield, before he provoked and lobbed his shield at one of the sandworms closest to her. As he threw himself into the fray, he flashed the sandworms several times and retrieved the shield he threw. "I'll hold them here! Just try to help cover me a tiny-"

 

The lalafell stopped as he saw that she was running away, happy to leave him. "OOMPH!" He had to turn his attention back to the group of sandworms, whose ire and attention he had drawn, as he was knocked into the air and crashed into the chocobo that was left behind. He looked into the chocobo's eyes and got right back to his feet before engaging the sandworms, giving it all he got.

 

"Augh!" Kage fell to his butt and then flopped onto his back, after he finally downed the last of the sandworms. He hurt now and he was sure it would hurt tomorrow. He closed his eyes wiping sweat off his forehead before he noticed that it was a little cooler than before.

 

"Wark!"

 

Kage opened his eyes, straight into the eyes of the chocobo that was left behind. "What, you didn't follow her?"

 

"Kweh!"

 

Kage scrambled to his feet, stepping on something rather hard under his feet. "Ow!" He bent down and lifted his foot to see what he had stepped on. It was a whistle.

 

"Wark!"

 

Kage turned to look into the chocobo's eyes. The whistle laid ontop of an open palm before he closed his fist around it. "You might want to keep onto this, my feathered friend." He moved to put it in the chocobo's bags that were attached to its saddle but it turned so that he couldn't.

 

"Wark!"

 

"What, why won't you take it?" The chocobo stared down at Kage as the lalafell's eyebrows furrowed. He scratched at his goatee, not understanding what was going on.

 

"Kweh!"

[Kage]

The small Lalafell winced as he removed the equipment off his left arm and shoulder. He rolled his left shoulder several times before stopping. He clenched his left hand into a fist. Open. Close. Open. Close.

 

It had been several days since Kage had fought with the female Roegadyn, Dennthota Ahtahrmwyn, and even more days since he had been in the mission gone awry with Natalie, Roen, and C'kayah. Both times he had taken hard hits to his shoulder, his shield arm. Without his armor that chaotic day against the smugglers-who-turned-out-not-to-be, Kage hurt his shoulder as he had been knocked down by the dangerous one with the lance. But who would be concerned about it when Roen was hurt? Certainly not him. He was and always more concerned about his friends, was Roen not one? So of course he did not may any attention to it.

 

His slightly armored form against Denn did not fare any better considering the hard kick he had to absorb from the fight. Nor did being thrown into the air and crashing onto her head with his shield. Kage groaned and shook his head, rubbing his shoulder to work away at the soreness he felt gnawing away at it.

 

Kage had just taken the Trial of Loyalty. He was going to have to wait on the results to see if his dream and aspirations would come true. He would pass, he was sure of it. That meant he needed to get this shoulder fixed. He needed to not be a liability.

 

"I guess it's time to seek out a friend..."

[Miria]

Exhaling slowly, the cool breeze from the water of Costa del Sol took Miria's breath away, stealing her words as she spoke softly to herself...

 

"No more...needin' to hide. No more needin' to be afraid of wha' I am, no holdin' it back."

 

Her tone somber, and sweet as she smiled watching the sun sink down into the horizon. Raising her hand, palm up she begins to hum a soft tone. A tiny flame begins to spark in her hand, dancing, and swaying along with the tune she humming happily to herself. Seeming at peace humming, and watching the dancing flame she was unaware of her little Fawn sneaking up behind her, in his curious manner.

 

He nuzzled his nose against her leg gently, and she jumped. Not expecting it to be her Fawn, she quickly tossed the flame at him, as it hit him. He yelped, and squealed in pain and fear...Only to have Miria panic, and quickly scoop him up into her arms, as her eyes welled up with tears.

 

"S-Shhh...I-I...am sorry.." She'd softly say in a worried tone, looking where the flame burned off bits of his fur, as she ran down into the water, going to sit, holding him in his lap.

 

"No' goin' to sleep...No' tonight.." She'd murmur to herself, cradling her pet, giving him a smile. "It aint tha' bad..J-Jus' a few lil' spots." The Fawn looked up to her, and if only he could smile he would.

[Melodia]

It had been many moons since Rurutani had his run-in with his elder brother Nonotano outside of Ul'dah. He had, at times, thought back to that terrible day and it would bring tears to his eyes, but he would then lose himself to the hunt of beasts and would push the memories deep within his mind.

 

But his ventures back into Thanalan of late have brought the troubling memories back to the fore. He had fired the arrow into his brother and the arrow had hit home.....right? Surely it had hit him in the chest as he had planned when he fired.

 

He started to wonder.

 

He remembered seeing him fall off the cliffs and was certain (was he?) that the arrow had hit its mark. Nonotano was dead. So why the doubts?

 

Then it dawned on him....he had never checked for the body.

[Kage]

The lalafell walked to the counter, depressed and worried. It was just a few days ago that he had seen his female Midlander friend, Roen, complete her Trial of Courage administered by Natalie. If he was honest, Kage was completely impressed and awed by Roen's performance. Could he compete? Roen was so much more experienced than him, she definitely deserved to be Sultansworn. He had been confident and was sure of himself, but the long days since his Trial of Loyalty made Kage falter.

 

Then he got the news from Natalie. He had failed. He had failed Ser Anelia's trial. He failed.

 

But Kage was worried. Not about the trial, no not that. He was sure that if he stayed true to what he believed, it would work out in the end. He would be Sultansworn. But he wasn't worried about that. Kage had not seen Roen since the end of her trial, when they both said they wanted to buy each other a congratulatory drink for completing all three trials.

 

Did Roen pass? Kage was sure that if he had not passed, surely she had. But why had she not shown at the Quicksand after they had agreed? He hoped that she had been too tired and instead decided to rest, as Natalie said.

 

Roen wasn't in trouble... right? Was she hurt from the botched chaos? What had been troubling her recently?

 

Kage pinched his brow and decided that it was time to do what he usually did when he started to worry about his friends.

 

"I'll have a large tankard of ale please," He said. "I'll leave that tab open for now."

 

Kage proceeded to take a long swig of the ale.

[Illira]

Cypress had a name. D’aijeen. Another piece along the broken trail that she followed. The duskwright may have been wrong about the conversation he’d inadvertently arranged. It wasn't easy, pulling teeth from the mother. Nor was it pleasant, but it seemed that nothing she ever did was. She was not a liar though. She had told the truth when she had said that she had no wish to bring harm upon the girl. But neither was it an option to simply let her continue with her necromantic dabbles, if indeed that was all they were. In this instance, it did not matter if she was responsible for the flood, or that she was a mother’s little girl. The voidsent scrambled to make their way back into this world, where they did not belong; madness and desperation apart of their very being.

 

The man in the shroud, whatever voidsent that possessed him had not been long in the void before being dragged back across the gate. Or at least that was what she had to suppose. She would have liked to have spent longer in its company, but it had to have been recalled against its will, not even aware of its own nature. Close enough to a person that it wasn't a danger to those around it. The memory of her grandfather was etched in her mind, crawling his way from the depths of the cavern, dead but for the thing inside him; struggling to keep control of a body that was no good to any but perhaps the fauna. Grappling at her ankles for a better anchor to the world.

 

‘D’aijeen. D’aijeen.’ Cypress let the name roll over in her thoughts as she walked down the city streets. Her time sitting amongst the refugees had perhaps not been such a wasted gift. She knew far more now about the customs of others. Knew that Miqo’te were tight-knit, preferring to live in family communities. That they shared part of their name with the rest of their family. If her parents were in Ul’dah, it would stand to reason this girl would be as well. She only needed to find the community that shared her name.

[Melodia]

Rurutani glanced at the paper in his hand and shook his head and chuckled a bit. Had it truly come to this? He sighed, smiled and decided it wouldn't hurt. He nailed the paper to the local market board and walked away, laughing a bit at himself for how silly it was that he was doing. The paper read as follows:

 

"Hello. As the Annual Ball approaches, and as I know relatively few folks in the lands, I am looking for a date to the ball. I am a good man and quite friendly, if a bit shy. I can dance (I'm sure of it) and while small of stature, I can still defend another's honor and be entertaining as well. If you are interested, please let me know if you see me, or you can leave a message for me here.

-Rurutani"

[Melodia]

The Lalafell was angry. He'd been made a fool of by people he barely knew and was still fuming. He approached the board and saw his ridiculous ad. He frowned and reached out quickly, tearing the advertisement for himself to the ball off, crumbling up the paper before storming off. He felt that maybe the ball might not be the place for him.

[Naunet]

The inn room felt unnaturally empty after D'hein left - not for lack of clutter for there was much of it, but all of the leaving, the grief, the splitting of souls the room had witnessed seemed to have drawn out any sense of energy from its walls. It was not a room but a void.

 

Antimony turned her back to the door and dropped her head, her blood-soaked dress rising into her field of view. She should change and wash, she knew, but there was very little energy for such things. Her body drew itself towards the bed while her thoughts drew themselves towards D'aijeen, towards K'airos. She hadn't been able to stop her daughter from leaving the first time; what made her think she could manage it now? There was no firedancer to blame this time, however, for he too had gone, slipped through her fingers before she had barely begun to realize what she'd found.

 

Dropping to the bed, Antimony curled her tail above her waist and sought in dreams some brief respite from that loneliness.

[Roen]

Roen closed the door to her room in the Quicksand, her back resting against it as the lock clicked quietly behind her. She arched her head back, her eyes closing, as the silence of the room fell around her like a cloak. She only had a few bells before the Royal Ball was to start, when she would be called upon to perform her duties of assuring the Sultana's safety.

 

Could she do it? Report to duty, stand next to the Sultana, watch those gathered in their fanciful garb and gowns, dancing and drinking merrily... and pretend nothing was amiss?

 

"You must not let on that I told you this. That we even met. Nothing must seem amiss." Delial had said when they met above Drybone many suns ago. When the Highlander had brought her a grisly gift, and even darker news.

 

Since that day, Roen had been walking about in a trance. Natalie had sworn her in as Sultansworn, but on that day when she should have felt nothing but joy, she could only struggle to keep afloat, to breath, to keep up appearance that nothing was amiss. 

 

And today would be no different. She had to look and act normal. Else the consequence would be something she could not bare.

 

Inhaling deeply, Roen opened her eyes and pushed off from the door, her eyes going to the bed where her Sultansworn tabard and armor awaited her. But next to the armor also awaited a box, fancifully wrapped in an ornate silk ribbon. It had a single carnation laid upon it.

 

Roen studied the box with a confused frown, lifting the single carnation before her eyes. Surely this was a mistake. She had received someone else's delivery. But when she pulled the ribbon loose and opened the box, a note laid there upon a neatly folded ornate white and gold dress.

 

Grey eyes narrowed as she read the elegant writing on the note:

 

A gift of beauty and elegance for an aspiring knight.

[Melkire]

The gauze was at the very bottom, beneath a bundle of haphazardly strewn clothes. Osric sighed.

 

I hate doing this. Hate it. But if it works on wanted street urchins from Limsa....

 

He set his jaw and rose to his feet slowly, taking in one last look before turning to the burly Ala Mhigan standing beside him. "Private Lancaster."

 

The new recruit snapped a crisp salute. "Yes, Sergeant!"

 

The hells am I doing? This cully has two fulms and at least sixty ponzes on me. The hells am I doing?

 

What he was doing was hooking the handle of the footlocker by the tip of his right boot and lifting it off the floor, ever so slowly....

 

"Private, does this look organized to you? Does this look like it meets regulations, to you?"

 

"No, si-"

 

Osric snapped his right foot up, and the near side of the footlocker jumped four fulms into the air, just enough for the sergeant to lean back, place the sole of that same boot against the locker's underside, and kick out, sending the contents flying as the box slammed back onto the floor, right-side down. "NO, IT GODS-DAMN DOESN'T, DOES IT?"

 

Lancaster's mouth fell open as his eyes tracked the footlocker. Now. Do it now, before that legendary highlander rage sets in and you wake up tomorrow missing half your face or worse.

 

Osric stepped forward, looked up into the big man's face, and set his voice to growling.

 

"Private Lancaster. Private Gregson has been grievously injured in the line of duty, and has been hauled back to the barracks. The medics have their hands full, and he needs immediate attention. Where is your gauze, soldier?"

 

He could hear Gregson shuffling behind him. By the Twelve, please be standing at attention by the time I turn around. One dressing-down is enough for today. Please.

 

"I... I don't know, sir. Somewhere on the floor, sir."

 

"That's right, Lancaster. Regulations exist for a reason. If your gear isn't squared away per said regulations, they might as well be somewhere on the gods-damned floor. Bloody well right, because if this wasn't a hypothetical, Gregson might have bloody well bled out by now, you-"

 

"Chief Sergeant Melkire."

 

Osric paused, still glaring up into the private's face through his pock-marked mask. He pivoted his hips and turned his head to find Lieutenant Peak waiting for him. He glanced back to Lancaster. "Have this sorted out before I get back."

 

He stepped over to Peak and saluted. "Sir."

 

The Roegadyn - always an odd sight here - passed a couple of sealed scrolls over to him. "Orders from Commander Swift. We're assigning additional men to the security detail at the Royal Ball tonight, to relieve those stationed there. You know, cycle in some fresh eyes, keep everyone alert, the usual. Your name came up. Corporal Kokojo will look after things here for you while you're away. Go now."

 

Osric snorted. This should have been Blades' work... but then, the General likely wasn't comfortable with the thought of Monetarist lackeys anywhere near the Sultana.

 

A quick nod and salute, and then he was passing Peak by, heading out of the barracks, heading for Hustings Strip and the Chamber of Rule....

[Kage]

Clutched in his hands was a letter that he received back from Natalie. She had gone on leave and wouldn't be back for a week. So would Kayah. He could understand, they needed to get away from everything. Everything...

 

Kage blinked tears from his eyes as the events of that night flashed. Guarding the sultana, talking with Denn, Denn leaving, finding out that Denn had hooked up with Natalie... trying to fix it all by just asking everyone to forget only for Kayah and Natalie to storm away from each other. Kayah... He had broken down, thinking that both hated him when they stormed away from each other just as he tried to get their attention. He had broken down in that room and Kayah... Kayah... His gloved fists would have scars from the amount of times his nails dug into the palm's flesh, even through the gloves. The gloves themselves were stained.

 

The leader was a tall, female Roegadyn with purple hair. He didn't see the purple hair no but Suri... Twelve be damned Suri knew the Roe's description and told him she had purple hair. The anger burned inside of him as he kicked a chair over in the room. The loud crash did nothing to appease the anger he felt. The idea was that she was going to kill Natalie?! Suri had told him when she told him how things came to be that he would be angry. He was. Oh by the Twelve he was, but Suri hadn't followed through. This female Roegadyn... she was the one who ambushed Kayah. She was the one who left him, dying in the corridors near the ball. Suri wanted her revenge on this Roegadyn or else perhaps Kage would be dead too. After all, Suri told him that she was told to 'fix it'. And yet, he was still alive. Suri hadn't killed him. No.

 

No. She wanted Kage to live. So that Kage could get some others involved but he couldn't. Ser Erik? No, Erik was busy. Kage knew that Erik was dealing with a plot more dangerous, a danger to the jewel herself. Roen? She was busy as well in her own right. Nay, Kage could not ask Roen for help. Ser Anelia? Kage blinked before shaking his head once more. And Natalie...

 

The letter fell to the floor. Natalie was going to be gone for awhile. The lalafell could not ask Salem or his other friends for help. No, it would not be right to drag them into something like this. Vengeance was not what he wanted to bring them into and Justice would be dealt by the Sworn. Salem tried to get him to talk last night but Kage couldn't, he wouldn't speak.

 

But that left Kage alone...to change his patterns lest he be too predictable and caught between a Miqo'te monk and a Roegadyn monk. They worked in numbers after all and Kage... Kage was alone and he couldn't let any others get hurt when it was a all his fault.

[Melodia]

Ruru walked the Sultansworn office and ensured he was alone when he slid the letter under the door. He sighed and made sure his gear was secure, hoisting up the bag strapped across his back once more with a slight groan. He heard Captain Jenlys' voice across the landing and decided he should move before being seen. Likely he would be the only one there to see him as it was. He turned and said in a low voice to himself, "Where are you...?" With that he walked away with his head down.

 

The letter, in full, read:

 

Kage,

I hope this letter finds you in good health. Hope your injuries are healing and that you might return soon. As I am unable to find you, nor can I find Ser Natalie I have decided to leave as well. I need time. It's been a confusing time for me and while I am grateful for your mentorship thus far, I feel like right now with everyone absent, I am more alone than ever. I took some time in Coerthas to improve my sword skills, of which you would be proud. However, I am now in a place where I need answers and no one is here who can do that. First Ser Natalie, then you...I can't even locate the woman Suri nor the woman who aided us, Denn I think her name is.

 

So with that I am headed to Limsa Lominsa. Perhaps the ocean air will clear my head of the questions swirling about, or perhaps no answers will come. Should that happen it may be preferable I think to learn a trade and settle, though I hope that is not the case. If you receive this and are in good spirits, please send word and I shall return. Until then, I will take the time in isolation to try and....I'm not sure, but I need the time and hope you understand why I left.

 

-Ruru

[Melodia]

Ruru looked at the letter in his hand and stared at it with a flat gaze. It was from Kage. And it said that he wanted to meet. He smirked a bit at that.

 

Ruru's hair was long and unkempt, the eyepatch over his left eye was dirty, having not been cleaned in days. He was wearing simple, tattered clothing that had mud still caked into parts of it, and he bore no weapons, as they still lay in the makeshift shelter, on the ground after he had kicked them. He looked every bit the beggar in Wineport as he looked hard at the mail. He turned and walked toward the gate, confused by the mix of emotions he felt at the message. He was simultaneously happy to hear from Kage, and happy he was back in Ul'dah, but he was also upset, hurt, and angry.

 

As he stomped heavily back to the jungle, passing through the gate, he tore the note into pieces and dropped the pieces to the ground while still moving, reaching around his back to make sure the fishing pole he had purchased was still there. It was. He smiled and as he looked to the sky he decided he would go somewhere to fish for a while, unsure whether he would go to Ul'dah or not.

[Roen]

Captain Jenlyns released a long exasperated sigh. He glanced at the parchment in front of him, his eyes squinted with annoyance. His finger tapped the back of the form as he held it, he knew full well what it was. He had seen it twice already in the last two weeks. First McBeef. Then Kiryuu. Now Deneith.

 

"You too?" He finally broke the long silence that had fallen between him and the female Sultansworn standing before him.

 

Roen Deneith nodded sharply, still standing stiff in attention. "Aye. Ser."

 

"Family problems as well?" Jenlyns's voice was just barely maintaining a semblance of patience.

 

The red-haired woman nodded. "Aye. Ser."

 

The Sultansworn Captain took a long breath in through his nose, regarding the woman with deliberate scrutiny. He could see the dark circles that had appeared under her eyes and the grim bend to her brows. She looked tired and haunted. What harsh words he may have had for her, about how she had left before during her training, and now, only weeks after being sworn in, she was asking for more leave, and that he still harbored some doubts regarding her dedication to this path...

 

He would save it for another day.

 

"Leave granted." He handed the application back to her. "But know this. You will not gain much merit at this rate. It would reflect poorly upon you and your previous mentors, if you continue to show such little regard for your duties. You have been sworn in based on their testament of your dedication and worth." Jenlyns deemed this as a kind but stern warning, but it only seemed to weigh the woman down further. She nodded wordlessly, her gaze lowered.

 

He sighed, "Turn in your application to the office, let them know you have my approval. And return as soon as you are able. Dismissed."

 

Jenlyns watched her leave, turning his attention back to the paperwork in front of him with a patient exhale. But then he paused, looking back up to where she had exited. Since when did she have a brother?

[Shayrei]

The way she sat irritated him. Her tall posture, one hand in her lap, legs folded gracefully under the table, the other hand holding the utensil high on its handle. She would adjust her grip, cutting each already bite size piece smaller and change her grip back fluidly.

 

And then she’d eat. It made him want to jump up from his table and lunge across hers to slap the fork straight out of her delicate hand. Each insufferable nibble she pierced barely enough to keep the food speared yet somehow as if ordered by the Gods themselves the fruit stayed as she brought it to her lips. It made his eye twitch. The way she’d allow the sample to hover in front of her lips, savoring the smell, before parting her lips to tease the food that would barely make it past her teeth before it was met by a tongue curling over it to remove it from its pike, ensuring those porcelain white medallions didn’t dare be marred by the intruding metal.  And then she’d chew. One. Two. Three. Four. She’d lay the fork down, picking up her napkin and moving it to her lips for a moment, needlessly dabbing at the corners of her mouth before coming to rest with her other hand in her lap. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. He was certain she had masticated the morsel into oblivion by now and merely enjoyed the feeling of the pureed fruit on her tongue. Finally the drink came; a delicate sip of water, barely enough to wet any palette. She’d ensure a solid contact as she set the glass perfectly on the table, her hand lingering on the stem a little too long to be necessary. And then it would start again.

 

His attention turned to the rest of the Bismark as the twitch started again. He watched the busy bustling to and fro of waitresses and waiters, patrons and whores. Another chunk of meat found itself speared onto the end of his fork before getting shoved it into his mouth.

 

Sedalyne Bisset... He didn’t need their reasons for wanting her dead. He didn’t care. The way she ate was reason enough for him. That pretty little head would find itself on his floor by week’s end.

[Kage]

It was the early morning and Kage blinked his eyes open, before they shot wide. His breathing became labored and in short breaths as he momentarily forgot where he was. Where was he? What was this place? A small sharp pain in his side, closer to his back made him remember. The crazy Roegadyn. Abalathia? Being held at point. Being carried off. The tackle that sent the blade driving into  him. Ul'dah. Ser Anelia. The clinic. Camp Drybone. The heavy armored Roegadyn who took him hostage with an axe to his neck. The sharp point as it drew blood as it dug in. Being taken back to the clinic.

 

That's where he was. He was at the clinic. He had gotten into the hot tub as Naz and Anelia talked. He couldn't hear anything over the sounds of the hot tub and the wall separating them. He was also simply exhausted as he trudged out of the tub, pulling on his clothes and was asleep before his head hit the bed pillow.

 

Something awoke him but what? His ears and eyes picked up on movement from a figure beside his bed and his heart raced a moment. He nearly winced from the pain before he noticed who it was.

 

"Kay..ah?" Kage whispered, a small wheeze coming out.

 

The Miqo'te nodded, scooping the Lalafell into his arms. "We're going home, back to the tribe house my Kage Tia."

 

Kage sighed, closing his eyes and nodded. A small hand gripped the fabric of Kayah's shirt.

 

"Welcome home, Kage Tia. We're going to keep an eye on you, keep you safe."

 

Kage nodded once more, exhaustion sweeping over himself once more as he let go. He trusted them, his family. He went to sleep knowing that he was safe and loved.

[Kage]

He tossed and turned. He couldn't sleep. The words hung over his head. It was the dead of night and while he felt safe and loved... a heavy burden, heavier than that of his recent encounters with the bandit, plagued him. 

 

The lalafell slowly crept out of the large bed, smiling sadly at its other occupants. He was glad last night that they had been away from the house when he'd finally made his way home but now... He frowned, tears falling down his face. Now he knew hard hard a burden that had been placed on him was. 

 

Kage made his way to the atrium. It was the only place that felt like he could breath at the moment. The current house had no windows. He couldn't see anything but walls and Natalie... and Kayah. He slid against a wall, staring outside of the atrium. It was calm tonight but inside of him, it was anything but.

 

He laid his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, sobbing wracking his small form.

[Knight Kat]

The female Miqo'te makes her way through the thick brush to a small clearing. The Sun is setting, and in the center of the clearing, a male Miqo'te sits in a meditative posture.

 

"So, this is where you are..." She says.

 

The male Miqo'te doesn't flinch, and just smiles at the sound of her voice. He maintains his meditative posture.

 

"You have found me.... Your tracking skills never cease to impress." He responds.

 

"I have a question, and mayhaps a favor to ask you." She says.

 

"Ah? Well shoot, as they say."

"Your archery skills are no better than mine......"

 

"That sounds more like an observation.... A kind of mean one..."

 

"I am serious right now! How did you save them?"

"Not with archery."

 

"I figured as much. Then how?"

 

"I adapted to a new forest."

"They were in the Black Shroud?!"

 

"No, they were mostly in Ul'dah, but some were in Limsa Lominsa."

 

"I fail to understand...."

 

"The urban forest."

 

"I see...."

 

"Learned when to blend, and when not to blend. Learned how disguise and when not to disguise. Learned how to move with the flow of the city, and how to recognize when I should fight and when I should run. It is just like hunting in a forest, but a very different one."

 

"How did you fight?"

 

"I left with not a gil on me.... I soon ran out of arrows. All I had was my knife."

 

"The knife-fighting skills we were taught when growing up."

 

"Indeed. It was a foundation. I soon learned how to fight with my bare hands, or with simple knuckle weapons."

"The art of the pugilist..."

 

"Indeed. An art where I could be bare naked and still put up a fight. It allowed me to continue. It allowed me to make some quick money. I was an adventurer for a while."

 

"So, you must be skilled then.... To have saved them with that."

 

"A pugilist, an archer, it all contributed, but in the end I did it with patients, and learning how to be an urban explorer. If only I could have saved them all...."

 

"You did well. You are a hero."

 

"I- I am just..."

 

"I know not how to ask you this favor...."

 

"You needn't ask. I know what's going on."

 

"I have, obligations...."

"I know."

 

"But my friends....."

 

"I know"

 

"How?"

 

"I over-heard..."

 

"YOU WERE WATCHING US?!"

"No! No! I was just listening..."

 

".....! "

 

"For only a bit! I was worried. I did not want him to hurt you."

 

"He did not!"

 

"Well, I know that now..."

 

"YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE!"

 

"Oh no, your face is red.... Just let me get a head-start...."

 

"Forget this!..."

 

"No wait! I'll do it."

 

"You know not what I will even ask."

 

"I have a good idea."

 

"This goes beyond family. I can not ask you this..."

 

"Nothing is beyond family. You are busy, and can not be in two places at once. Yet, I know you. You can not let it be. You would eventually go insane, and storm over to that Gods forsaken city to interrogate Gods knows who with their Gods damned armored Whatevers....."

".......You still continue to jest."

 

"Indeed, laugh before you die. It takes away satisfaction from your enemies."

 

"Where in the Seven Hells did you learn that?"

 

"One of the Friars...."

"You are unbelievable...."

 

The female Miqo'te shakes her head, and turns around to leave the clearing.

 

"So, you want me to find them, assess the situation then do what?" He asks.

 

"If they are in danger, help. If they are in no immediate danger, report back."

 

"Very well."

 

"I know not how to thank you, or repay you, for this....."

 

"Tsk! You don't have to thank me." The male Miqo'te stands up, and turns to her with a smirk. "I'm- ((End Scene))

[cuideag]

"Brother."

 

He froze. The sunlight was dwindling and the lamps that peppered the market street were being lit, one by one. Harvard knew better than dwindle in the dark, for though he had the height and bearing of a Highlander, he lacked the pose of anything short of a commoner. A peasant. A victim, she said once. The word stung in his heart. It hadn't been long since those women had plucked him from the street, and mere years since his sister gave him to the chains.

 

"Brother. Wait a moment."

 

He did not turn. Footsteps drew themselves out from the alleyway, sharp and slow. Her robes rustled with her movements and she came to stop square behind him. She did not touch him. Could not?

 

Harvard waited. Delial waited. They were not alone on the street: others, merchants and shoppers and the other pointless faces that, thankfully, had the sense to give them space. There were whispers of her, of course, of the blood-stained woman with a poisonous smile. Harvard could not see if she was smiling then. He did not turn and she did not touch him.

 

"You should leave," she said at last. "Soon. The sooner the better. The city is not safe."

 

Again, silence. Harvard stared ahead. The Blade patrols were absent, he noticed. The bronze armor and the curved swords that made their regular rounds up and down the strip were gone.

 

"Brother, listen--"

 

"I live here now," he heard himself growling, the first words he had actually spoken to her since his departure from Ala Mhigo. "I live here because of you, but I've made the best of it."

 

"I only--"

 

"What are you doing? What have you done?"

 

"I am attending to your safe--"

 

It happened before he realized, before he could stop himself. His body swung around and he found himself face to face with the woman he had done everything to avoid. She met him with surprise as well, wide eyed, even taking a single step back away from her shorter brother. Her face was not quite as he remembered, hardened and marred. Her eye was the first thing he noticed, as well as the long scar that cut across it.

 

"Why me?" he spat. The words rose out of him unbidden but they had been boiling in his mind for years. Theirs was a family shattered and the only thing left, though he hated to claim her, was his sister. "Why do you keep doing this? You know what you did to Wes! Why didn't you 'attend' to his safety, too?!"

 

Once, they were close. Harvard could still read her, see the way her jaw tensed and the way her throat tightened. She was uncomfortable and she was angry, always angry, but there was something else as well. "He made his choice," she replied, her voice low. Delial did not look at him while she started to walk past him, shoulders barely brushing as her stride carried her along. "Just as I give you yours now. Make it. Leave Ul'dah, even if only for a few suns. A week. Leave it."

 

"What have you done?" he snarled at her back. The woman did not turn nor did she address him again, weaving her way into the night crowds that were gathering.

[Melodia]

The tall, red-headed Hyur beauty sat in the Quicksand, in one of the quieter corners and sipped her ale with disgust. Melodia had been making brief trips into the city of Ul'dah in the hopes of possibly running into the Roe woman she had met briefly before, but had been to no avail.

 

So instead, she sat and drank. And cursed what she saw. These frolicking and drunken fools, flirting and wasting their time. She wondered why they even bothered. But what irritated her most were the small ones....the Lalafells. Always coming and going as they pleased, running about as if they ran the world; when in fact she thought they belonged under its heel. Seeing them reminded her too well of that crimson-haired buffoon Nonotano, and when she thought of him her grip on the cup of ale tightened.

 

So here were these stunted folk....running about. Irritating her. She'd seen one stroll in with an eyepatch and chat up the blonde who worked there and Melodia's only thought had been that the lost eye had been a good start. And now she was glaring at the one who often was in here. The dark haired Sultansworn....he often was present and chatty. And it ground her nerves.

 

She thought, "Tonight's the night. I've had it with that one." It had been a while since she'd spilled any blood and if it were going to be anyone, one of the little runts would work well. And the funny thing is, he would have no idea it was coming.

 

She paused and took a sip of her drink and sighed. One dead Lalafell wouldn't bring back Thorin, nor would it help her find the wayward Roe. She was starting to wonder what she needed to do to get herself back on track. She took another drink and looked away from the bearded Lalafell to the table, granting a rare mercy that few, if any, had ever received. No she would not kill him tonight. Maybe in the future.....but not tonight. Tonight she wanted to think. All she needed was a bit of luck to get herself on the right track.

 

A bit of luck and the right contact.

[C'kayah Polaali]

Moved to Desolation Row

[Kage]

Moved to Desolation Row

[Star Lin]

John Waterstrike look out from the raise, taking in the lights from Limsa Lominsa peeking through the bit of fog.  It would be his home, for however long she wanted him there.  Yet, would anyplace feel like home without his sister there to guide him.  He look down as his Carbuncle rub her head against his ankle.  He pulled out the locket from the pocket of his beltpack,  He settle onto the ground, allowing the topaz to climb into his lap.  "Sorry, Kit, didn't mean to worry you."  Her emotion brushed over his own magic, accepting her friend for what he felt at this moment.

 

He flip the locket open, grazing at the picture that rested inside.  "Tanya would have loved you."  His thumb ran over the teenage midlander, red hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a gentle smile to the child miqo'te.  "Sister, I wish that you had lived.  I don't know if I could ever me this my home like you made Gridania yours."

 

The purple hair keeper laid back onto the ground and let his eyes drift close.  'Maybe...just maybe, you could tell me why I'm having such painful headaches and visions of people that I know nothing about.'

[Melodia]

Melodia looked at the garments lying on the bed, trying to decide which would work best. She wanted something sleek, intimidating and that would look good on her. She despised having to consider the last but she knew her sexuality was another weapon at her disposal and often was an effective means at lulling weak-willed fools into her grip. So she played the game, the best she could, despite how she felt.

 

She had plans. No longer willing to idly by, she decided it was time to accept who she was. She'd fought it for too long, playing the role of an enforcer to a cause she didn't feel like she was a part of.

 

And yet, she was a part of it. She accepted it. Thorin had raised her as his own and as one of them, and try as she might, she could never shake it.

 

She was a Garlean.

 

And it was time to start acting like one.